The sun never sets in America

Chapter 199 The Palace and Rubber

On March [-], the eighth year of Longwu's reign, the Xijing Railway Station was tightly closed and there were soldiers standing guard everywhere.

They were all dressed in black straight military uniforms, tall cowhide riding boots, and carrying Lightning Type II rifles. They scanned everything around them with lightning eyes. Anyone who came into contact with their eyes would feel a chill. (Lightning Type II is the second generation modification of the Lightning Rifle. It is equipped with new bullets and corrects part of the ballistics to make shooting more accurate.)

woo woo woo...

A quaint-looking train stopped on the tracks next to the Xijing platform.

The soldiers on the platform immediately became alert, and at the entrance of another carriage, a large group of soldiers with strong postures filed in and rushed directly into the carriage.

The leading officer checked left and right, wanting to search every bathroom.

The service staff in the carriage cautiously received the soldiers who were watching the search, turning left and right, for fear of being found to contain any prohibited items.

"Except for the train driver, everyone else can go home." The leading officer named Mu looked at these frightened and even trembling waiters and informed them in a very cold tone.

"Sir, we are laid off, who will take over our shift??" A waitress wearing a cardigan stretched out her hand tremblingly and said.

Everyone else was frightened, fearing they would get into trouble.

"Someone will take over your job, don't worry about this..." Officer Mu still looked at the group of service personnel in front of him with cold eyes and said.

"I……"

"Okay, stop talking and go home. Your wages will still be paid, but please remember, no one can tell anyone what happened today!!" The waitress wanted to say something else, but Officer Mu interrupted.

"Please..." Officer surnamed Mu gestured for them to get out of the car with a big hand.

Several service personnel on the train could only get off the train obediently. What awaited them was secret surveillance and review over and over again.

It's just that they themselves won't notice it at all.

After a few people left, officer surnamed Mu led people to search again.

Later, the train did not continue to stop at the Xijing platform, but was driven to a nearby repair shop for a makeover and improvement.

…………

Lotus Pavilion, a building built only last year, is named Lotus Pavilion because of the many kinds of lotus in the pond.

Lotus Pavilion is Liu Peng's favorite place to work. Compared with several major halls, Lotus Pavilion occupies a small area, but the design is extremely exquisite. There is also a French-style Western-style building inside. Liu Peng likes to work here very much, and sometimes even Will live here.

Even summoning ministers and even visiting concubines are sometimes here...

This bungalow was named Xijing No. [-] by Liu Peng. Outsiders didn't know what it meant, but they just thought it was Liu Peng's elegance.

Only Liu Peng knows that this is to commemorate the house number of his hometown, so he called it this name.

In the bungalow, everything is available, including sofas made of caiman and crocodile skins, which are filled with vicuña hair from the Andes Mountains of South America. This kind of hair even had the reputation of gold in later generations, describing it as expensive as gold.

In the room, there are some Chinese landscape paintings, including several poems and paintings from the Tang Dynasty, which were specially collected from China by the people below and presented as tribute to Liu Peng.

In another side room, there is even a telegraph line. The other end of the line is the cabinet. This is a special line between the palace and the cabinet, specially used to handle state affairs.

The main purpose is to facilitate Liu Peng to contact the cabinet and understand the situation in the outside world.

Otherwise, a monarch who has not left the palace for a long time will be easily deceived by the people below him.

Of course, because the cabinet was contacted, it was difficult to guarantee the authenticity of the matter, so that was the scene at Xijing Railway Station on March [-]th.

It is to prepare for Liu Peng's tour, and the train that just left the factory at the beginning of this year will also be converted into an armored train as a special train for Liu Peng's tour.

In order to prevent accidents, this special train was reinforced in all aspects during the transformation process, especially the sides and bottom that were most vulnerable to attack. Several layers of steel plates and refractory materials were added.

The appearance of each section of the train must be exactly the same, and no section should be different to avoid attracting attention.

For the sake of his own safety, even the number of trains along the route has been changed. Everything is for safety and for Liu Peng's own safety.

"Your Majesty, it's time for lunch..."

Liu Peng was reading in the study when he was interrupted by a female voice. Liu Peng frowned, then put down the book and said to the door:

"Send it in..."

"Yes...Your Majesty!!"

squeak……

The study door opened, and a woman wearing a white Hanfu with a round collar made from the Tang Dynasty and a silver crown greeted several palace maids and brought the food to Liu Peng's desk.

Then the female officer tried several dishes in front of Liu Peng, and then stood aside to wait on Liu Peng's meal.

"Your Majesty, this is roast duck roasted with river duck. It was made by the new Master Bao. His family used to be the imperial chef of the Ming Dynasty..." The female officer introduced each dish to Liu Peng while picking it up.

"It tastes good." Liu Peng ate a piece of duck meat with a strange expression on his face, then recovered and said to the female officer with satisfaction.

"This is deer breast. It is smoked and grilled with fruit charcoal, and then marinated with sauce. The one on top is lemon juice..." The female officer continued to introduce one dish after another.

Liu Peng only took three bites of each dish. This was also a royal rule. A dish could only be eaten three times to prevent poisoning.

"Your Majesty, which empress will be passed on tonight??" The female officer took out a notebook and asked Liu Peng after Liu Peng finished eating.

"Concubine Jing..." Liu Peng replied nonchalantly. (In the following years, five more beautiful girls entered the palace. Concubine Jing was the daughter of a scholarly family in the south of the Yangtze River. After her family immigrated to the Han Dynasty, because they had no foundation, they hoped to gain a foothold in the Han Dynasty through the draft. This was indeed the case later)

"Yes, Your Majesty..." The female officer drew an attendant in Concubine Jing's column, and left the others blank.

Then he said something to Liu Peng and left the study.

Liu Peng in the study continued to look at the Prince in his hand.

…………

Harem...

"Niangniang, Niangniang..."

A maid ran into the Jingxin Pavilion where Concubine Jing lived. Because it matched Concubine Jing's title, Liu Peng rewarded Concubine Jing as his palace.

"What's going on? You're careless..."

Concubine Jing was dressed in a light blue Hanfu made from the Song Dynasty, with a woman's hairpin tied casually, and she was doing needlework in her hands.

"Ms. Su just said that His Majesty will summon you to bed at No. [-] tonight." The maid replied to Concubine Jing while breathing heavily.

"What..." After hearing this, Concubine Jing was stunned for a moment, then she felt happy again, and then urged:

"Quick, give me a bath and change clothes..."

"Oh, I'll go right away..."

After hearing this, the maid immediately ran out to prepare bath water and spices.

"My belly must be strong tonight!!" Concubine Jing touched her flat belly and murmured to herself in a somewhat eclipsed and expectant tone.

The reason why I say this is because there are five concubines in the palace, one noble concubine and one queen. Four of them have given birth to children, but she and the other three have not. Do you think she can be calm? If there is another If one is pregnant, then she is only one person away from the last place. (Liu Peng currently has four sons, the eldest son Liu Yu, the prince, the second son Liu Hao, born to a noble concubine, the queen's sister, and the third son is a princess, born to a North Korean concubine, named Liu Qin. The fourth is a son named Liu Hong)

It can even be said that it is the last one.

In such a huge palace, anyone who has read a little bit of history will understand what it means for a woman to have no children.

After freshening up, Concubine Jing began to wait quietly for the arrival of darkness.

Liu Peng, who was in Bungalow No. [-], was processing official documents sent by the cabinet.

Liu Peng stayed for a long time on a document about building a national telegraph network, and finally gave instructions with a red brush:

"The telegraph matter is a serious matter and must not be tampered with. The detailed plan needs to be submitted to the Cabinet Department of Infrastructure for review. Any construction should be divided into military and civilian uses. All lines used must be protected and intact. Don't slack off. If someone destroys it, Telegraph lines will be severely punished according to the laws of the Han Dynasty!!" When writing this, Liu Peng paused and continued writing: "Telegraph is an advanced communication tool in today's world and cannot be neglected. Today's telegraph relies heavily on lines, so we can order it. The research institute under the Ministry of Science and Technology is studying telegraphy that does not require wires. This matter is important and you must not spread it on your own... Remember, remember!!"

After finishing writing, Liu Peng took out another booklet depicting the Longzhang Tuan case. When he opened this one, it was completely blank. It seemed that it was for Liu Peng's personal use.

"When I was revising the memorial, I saw an official asking to open the national telegraph network. I thought about it again and again, and I was very cautious. I suddenly felt that the exchanges in our country of Han were inconvenient and were a burden on state affairs. Most of the domestic telegrams were sent by yamen. It is exclusively for the people and has nothing to do with the people. Although telegraphs are built among the people, they are mostly used scatteredly in developed areas and are not popular..." (At this time, the Han people had telegraphs, but they were only for mutual communication in big cities, and they were expensive. , ordinary people only dare to use telegrams when they are in urgent need, and usually prefer to send letters to the post office)

"Therefore, if I want to build a telegraph line connecting the territory of Han Dynasty, connecting big cities and small towns, and communicating with each other, I should set up a telegraph office to take charge of telegraphs across the country. The cost of telegraphs should be moderate, not too expensive, not too cheap..."

"The matter of the Telegraph Bureau will be discussed with the cabinet ministers. The construction of the telegraph station should be spent. The local telegraph rights can be divided into shares and sold to establish the Xijing Financial Market next month. It can also increase the prestige of the market..." wrote When he arrived here, Liu Peng obviously felt that the emergence of the telegraph was a good opportunity for Han's newly established financial market, so he requested in advance to establish a joint-stock system and marketization.

After finishing writing, Liu Peng stamped a seal with the small dragon seal beside him.

The seal is written in small seal script, "The Royal Seal of the King of Han."

In fact, there is a large seal carved with Hetian jade next to it. The seal also has the four characters "Royal Seal of the King of Han", but the font is larger.

The small one is specially used to correct memorials, while the large one is the basis for promulgating important laws. Both are indispensable.

When Liu Peng left the palace sometimes, he would take it with him, especially the small seal for contacting the cabinet.

Liu Peng then continued to correct the remaining memorials on the table. These memorials were from the cabinet, localities, ministries, and even individual officials.

For example, this one:

"I am deeply grateful to Lingnan for the divine grace. The recent new tea from Lingnan is fragrant and fragrant. When I drink it, my lips and teeth will be fragrant..."

"I am grateful for my saintliness, so I mailed new tea to Your Majesty. I hope Your Majesty will not find it too shabby..."

Meng Zhouxing, Mayor of Luling City, Lingnan Province, sends a message to His Majesty! !

Liu Peng looked at this memorial with a speechless expression on his face. This memorial contained hundreds of words, but in the end there were only three words: flattery! !

"Please accept the tea given by you, as long as you have a lonely king in your heart. There is no need to send tea leaves anymore to prevent the abuse of people's power!!"

"You should think twice before you act!!"

What do you mean, I just tell you not to give it away next time. If you give it away again, you will be suspected of abusing your private power. It will be strange if Liu Peng doesn't do anything about it.

After the memorial was processed, Liu Peng looked at the last memorial sent by the cabinet.

After reading it, Liu Peng's expression changed slightly, but then he calmed down, as if he knew this would happen soon.

After all, the Han Kingdom involves the interests of so many countries and individuals in South America, and it is impossible not to break out. This outbreak in Brazil is a clear proof.

And what exactly is written in this memorial week? It’s actually just two words, rubber! !

Ever since rubber was used by the Han State and developed into an annual output value of [-] million Chinese yuan, and an annual production chain of [-] million Chinese yuan in the upstream and downstream, it meant that rubber was tied to the Han Dynasty's economy and even national policies. Certainly.

What is happening now is a burning case of the Hanshang Rubber Factory in Brazil. It seems very simple, but it is very unusual.

After the case broke out, the Brazilian authorities sealed off the scene while concealing the truth from the outside world. They also kept secrets when questioning the Chinese envoy in Brazil. In the end, they all explained it with words such as spontaneous combustion and accident.

The intelligence investigation by the Han Empire Bureau of Investigation showed that this was probably a premeditated and deliberate arson.

The purpose was to scare away Han rubber merchants in Brazil.

You know, according to current statistics, [-]% of the [-] million yuan worth of rubber exported by Brazil belongs to Han businessmen.

This is such a huge wealth, you can only imagine it.

It is said that wealth touches people's hearts. It is surprising that such a huge wealth is placed in a Brazilian home and is controlled by a group of foreigners. It is surprising that Brazilian locals can endure it.

In fact, if Han had not defeated the United States a few years ago and established its position in the Americas, the greedy powerful people in Brazil would have wanted to rob it.

After all, they work hard in the farmland using slaves to grow food and produce cane sugar, but the export volume in a year is only a little higher than that of rubber. From an industrial point of view, the strategic position is not as high as that of rubber.

No one in power in Brazil would let go of such a huge fortune, and in their view, this wealth originally belonged to the Brazilians, but was stolen by the evil Han people.

Seeing that huge amounts of wealth are being lost from the country every year, those people with lofty ideals in Brazil feel heartbroken and resentful every time they talk about rubber and the Han Dynasty! !

However, due to the strength of the Han State, they could only hide their dissatisfaction in their hearts.

Until recently, no one knew who the lunatic was who burned down one of the few rubber processing factories built by Han Chinese businessmen in Brazil.

They even forced the Brazilian authorities to support people behind the scenes. These were the incentives for the cabinet to report urgently to Liu Peng this time.

Liu Peng then read the memorial again, his eyes a little complicated, and then gave instructions:

"This is an important time and we should not neglect it. We should first diplomatically inquire with the Brazilian authorities. If Brazil still knows how to repent, there will be no need to pursue it. If the Brazilian authorities refuse to admit it and there are even more such bad acts against our Han merchants, please inform the Brazilian authorities." .”

“Don’t say you didn’t predict what you said!!!”

When Liu Peng wrote the last sentence, the strokes of the brush were obviously a little too hard, so that the last few words looked a bit sloppy.

"Huh..." After Liu Peng finished correcting all the memorials, he walked out of the study and looked at the full moon and stars in the sky with a sentimental expression on his face.

What just happened made him realize again that this was an extremely real world, and no one really revolved around him.

Originally, he thought that since the victory of the Han Dynasty in the Han-American War, no country in the Americas would dare to touch the tiger's beard. Especially at the beginning of this year, the United States and the United States expelled the British and French forces in South America, which made Liu Peng feel that the overall situation was settled.

The next step is to recuperate, accumulate national strength, and finally, after a long period of preparation, defeat the United States in one fell swoop and dominate North and South America.

But this is the reality. When you least want to do something, this kind of thing happens and catches you off guard.

Liu Peng looked at the full moon in the sky and felt a sense of loneliness for a moment. This loneliness was not only the loneliness of the emperor, but also the seemingly cold relationship between himself and this time and space.

This feels like? ?

"Your Majesty, Concubine Jing has arrived..."

Just when Liu Peng fell into memories, a familiar voice woke Liu Peng up.

Liu Peng then followed the female officer back to the palace.

In the bedroom, Concubine Jing sat cautiously on the edge of the bed. It wasn't until footsteps came from outside that her expression softened.

"His Majesty……"

Concubine Jing greeted Liu Peng as soon as she saw him.

"Concubine Jing, you've been waiting for a long time!!" Liu Peng hugged Concubine Jing's soft waist.

"Your Majesty is joking. Your Majesty is busy with official duties. I have to wait until tomorrow." Concubine Jing said as she undressed Liu Peng and flattered her.

After everything was fine, Concubine Jing closed the palace tent.

For a time, there was a sense of spring and vitality.

After it was over, Concubine Jing lay in Liu Peng's arms and said coquettishly: "Your Majesty, do you think I can get pregnant this time??" She looked at Liu Peng with a worried expression on his face.

"Ask me how I know." Liu Peng replied to Concubine Jing with a smile.

"How about doing it again??" Liu Peng looked at Concubine Jing and said.

"what……"

Concubine Jing's face turned red instantly.

The hibiscus tent warms the spring night, and the spring night is bitter and short, and the day is high, so the king will not go to court early.

Spring is here again, and the little animals have begun their annual gathering again.

　Ask for a reward, ask for a monthly ticket

　　

　

(End of this chapter)